


Night Watch

by RainofAugust



Series: Lana and Viri - KOTFE [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Lana and Viri - KOTFE, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-22 07:50:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11375802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainofAugust/pseuds/RainofAugust
Summary: The Outlander might have been freed from carbonite, but terrible nightmares still haunt her. Luckily, there's one person she trusts enough to help her fight them.





	Night Watch

**Author's Note:**

> My first SWTOR fic! :D 
> 
> Amazing artwork commissioned from HerGreyWarden : http://hergreywarden.tumblr.com
> 
> A/N: My female Sith Warrior as written is basically my own in-game character, who tends to lean Light Side (but still hated Senya and suffers no fools)…She’s also demiromantic/sexual, and since Lana seems to lean that way too, they really get each other. 
> 
> Spoilers for KOTFE through Chapter 7. This story is set while the Gravestone is docked in Asylum, after Senya’s little stunt with the Scions, but before the events of Chapter 8. In my head canon, Lana’s attitude toward Senya changes significantly for the worse after the latter endangers the Sith Warrior during Scion-Gate. 
> 
> The tag is Lana/Female Sith Warrior. If it’s not obvious this is a f/f relationship from that, well, I can’t help you. 
> 
> Lana Beniko, Senya, HK-55 and the SWTOR universe belong to Bioware/EA, not me.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: This story depicts a character experiencing nightmares and PTSD.

__Art by hergreywarden - https://hergreywarden.tumblr.com/Art posted here with artist's permission._ _

 

 

 _There aren’t a lot of people in this galaxy who are close to me. The thought of losing them…yes, it scares me._ \-- Sith Warrior, talking to the Dread Masters on Oricon

*

Lana Beniko rubs her forehead as she peruses the data on the monitoring console. It’s the middle of the night and there aren’t any vessels on the scanner, but someone has to stay at the controls, just in case. Maybe, just maybe, it will be a quiet evening.

She winces as she’s hit with a sudden wave of despair and pain, rippling out through the Force. _Spoke too soon._

“HK, take over,” Lana says into her comm, as she rises from the console and heads for the elevator.

”Observation: As this has become a usual occurrence, perhaps I should simply assume this guard shift.”

“Perhaps you’re right, HK. We’ll discuss it more in the morning.”

Lana heads for some of the more remote crew quarters. She and Viri both voluntarily chose to stay in the lower wing, away from Koth's crew - and the privacy is more important now than ever - but Lana still mentally curses the distance as she alights from the elevator and jogs down one long corridor after the next. As she reaches the door she needs, the magnitude of the sheer agony coursing through the Force is enough to make her stagger. Viri – the former Empire’s Wrath to her friends; the Outlander to her foes – is trapped in another nightmare.

Lana finds Viri thrashing in her bunk, screaming in her sleep. She has a rotating selection of terrible dreams; judging from the names she’s invoking, tonight she’s apparently back to the one where everyone she cares about is slaughtered. Viri’s hands involuntarily clench and unclench as she draws a phantom lightsaber and calls for Vette; the rest of her crew; her parents; Lana herself.

”Viri, can you hear me? Whatever’s occurring in your dream…it’s not real. I’m right here.” Lana keeps her voice as low and calm as she can. It’s a challenge; Viri’s unrest rattles through the Force and coils around her rib cage, threatening to send her into a panic. Hearing Viri scream this way, and suffer so intensely, upsets her deeply.

Lana’s first instinct is always to reach out and touch Viri, but she knows it’s not safe – in the throes of her nightmare, she might lash out on reflex. Instead, Lana sits on the floor by the edge of the bunk, near Viri’s head, and speaks softly in Sith. “ _Eyah seh maat, shu kor huann._ ” The cadence of the language is as soothing as the words themselves. She closes her eyes and sends waves of comfort and strength through the Force, willing them to break through the terror that has seized Viri’s mind.

Eventually, Viri’s screams turn into cries. Lana exhales – the maelstrom of anguish and terror whipping through the Force is smaller now. She just keeps talking, focusing on the words to center herself along with Viri.  
  
”…where…am…I?” Viri has finally pulled away from her nightmare, and she stares at Lana with glassy, unfocused blue eyes. She’s shuddering and breathing hard, as though she’s fought an army.  
  
”You are safe on your ship, in your own bed. You were having a nightmare.” Lana says. Tears course down Viri’s cheeks, but her eyes finally focus fully on Lana.

“Hello, Viri. It’s good to see you.” Now that Viri is awake and aware of her surroundings, it’s safe to offer a gentle squeeze to her shoulder; to brush her sweaty hair back from her face.  
  
“Is it morning…?”

”No. Don’t get up. You really need to try to rest.” Viri takes a shaky breath.

“I _…”_ Viri’s voice trails off. In truth, Lana cannot blame her for wanting to stay awake. She hasn't yet fully recovered from the carbonite poisoning, much less the five years of horrific visions from Valkorion's spirit, and the constant nightmares aren’t helping her get there.

“You are so strong, Viri. Through strength…”  
  
”…I gain power.”  
  
”Yes. You _are_ powerful, and you can get through this.”

Viri reaches for Lana’s hand, twining their fingers together. Whatever she wants to say, she’s not capable of articulating it. That alone is enough for Lana to confirm that she’s in a very raw place; Viri’s never been shy about speaking her mind. She silently locks her blue eyes on Lana. There are two bright spots glimmering along the edges of the tornado of pain that simmers within Viri: Deep affection for Lana. Trust. Lana recognizes them well; the sentiments are reflected in her own heart.

“Do you want me to stay with you while you sleep?” Lana asks. She knows what the answer will be – it’s the same every night – but she always asks; always wants to give Viri the agency to refuse. Sure enough, Viri nods.

Lana takes off her gloves and boots and climbs into the bunk, resting her back against the wall. Viri’s lightsaber is tucked under the pillows, and Lana places her own saber next to it. She gently shifts until she can cradle Viri’s head in her lap. Freed from its usual combat-sensible ponytail, her long hair falls in waves across Lana’s knees.

“Just breathe.” Lana transmits as many soothing thoughts as she can, willing Viri to rest; willing her sleep to be dreamless. Viri’s Force signature is a tempest, but as Lana strokes her hair and murmurs to her in Sith, it eventually smoothes itself into a fast-moving current, and then a still pool as sleep finally overtakes her. Lana’s voice trails off as she closes her own eyes and leans her head against the wall.

"How’s she doing?” Senya is a long silhouette in the doorway.

“She’s resting comfortably for the moment,” Lana says quietly, without opening her eyes. She’s truly annoyed that Senya has disturbed them – this isn’t her business - but she continues to stroke Viri’s head, hoping that she can maintain calm with her presence.

As if on cue, Viri cries out suddenly in her sleep. Lana immediately responds in Sith: _If I could stop these dreams from torturing you every night, I’d do it in a second, my love._ In what little spare time she has, she’s been looking for something – a ritual, a drug, _anything_ – that will give Viri dreamless sleep, but she’s not yet found anything feasible.

”That language…what is it?”  
  
”Sith.”  
  
”Is that her first language?”  
  
”Neither hers nor mine. But you don’t get out of Academy without fluency. It’s…a bit of familiarity for both of us.”  
  
"I wouldn’t have thought they gave you language classes there,” Senya chuckles.

”There’s a lot to being a Sith,” Lana retorts. “But we should discuss it another time. Viri needs her rest. Good night.”

”You know, you didn’t tell me your friend was so fragile.”

” _Fragile_ , Senya? How dare you. She just spent five years in hibernation, is getting over a spectacular case of carbonite poisoning with minimal medical assistance, and has lost just about everything she knows and cares about. You don’t get to decide how she processes that.”  
  
Viri begins to toss and turn. “Leave. I won’t have you upsetting her.” Lana’s hands hover protectively over the sleeping woman in her lap.

“ _I’m_ upsetting her? _You’re_ the one who’s angry.”  
  
”I assure you, anger’s not a problem for us.” Lana’s eyes have taken on a dangerous glow.  
  
”She obviously means a lot to you. And I’ve just met her, so my judgments....”  
  
”…are completely inappropriate. She risked her life to save _your_ people, Senya. When I freed her, she was so sick that she could barely stand up or see …but when she realized civilians were in danger, she made a point of saving them _. I_ certainly tried to talk her out of it. Remember that the next time you’re inclined to comment on her… _fragility_.”

”Point taken,” Senya says quietly. “I feel I should apologize to her.”  
  
”Right now, you need to leave.” Senya disappears without another word. Lana raises one hand and flicks it toward the door. She relaxes when she hears the lock engage… _and stay out_.

 There’s another wave in the Force; Viri’s stirring again, more forcefully than before. “No, no, none of that, my love,” Lana says, softly. “You need to rest.”

”Rest with me,” Viri murmurs, her voice thick from fatigue and hoarse from screaming. This happens every night too, at some point. If Lana’s honest with herself, she’d be disappointed if it didn’t. She gently disentangles Viri from her lap and stretches out beside her. Viri instantly nestles at her side and throws one arm around her waist. Lana returns the embrace, snaking her arm around Viri’s shoulders and drawing her close.

”Sleep well,” Lana murmurs. Viri’s Force signature has become a vast blue pool; calm; still; serene. “I’ve got you.”


End file.
